carpe diem
by oh-the-linsanity
Summary: college!au: Korra's just trying to make it through school. Between exams, parties, new roommates and the over all scent of adulthood looming over everything, the last thing she needs is her ex-boyfriend waltzing back in her life. Too bad that's exactly what happens.
1. Chapter 1

notes: it's a college AU, so I don't really know what to tell you-enjoy!

* * *

Korra slumped down in her chair, letting her history book engulf her. It's not that history wasn't interesting, because it was. Like the time Andrew Jackson beat his would-be-assassin with a cane. Or the time Teddy Roosevelt got shot at his inauguration but didn't leave until his speech was done (Bully! Man, that guy was so metal). Yeah, history was pretty cool.

But this upcoming exam was not cool. The complete opposite of cool. It was uncool.

"I'm dropping out and becoming a hobo," she declared, voice muffled by the hundreds of pages resting on her face.

Tahno didn't even glance at her. "That's nice, sweetheart." He told her,

She sent him a displeased glare. Giving her pet names was his way of being a condescending asshole—well, more of one, at least. But she shook it off quickly—she was in need of a distraction, and that meant not pissing Tahno off, as tempting as it was. "Whatcha readin'?" she asked in a sing-song voice.

"The DSM" She threw him a bored expression. He rolled his eyes. "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders," he elaborated.

She wrinkled her nose. "Why are you reading that?"

"Thought maybe I could figure out why you're so screwy in the head—OW!" he yelped when she threw her 550 page American History textbook at his head. He snarled, rubbing the already growing bump on his head. "I've got that midterm for that psychology class in two days, and I could do without a little memory loss so do you mind?"

She huffed, slumping down farther in the loveseat. "Don't be an assdick, then,"

He lifted one of his (waxed, he totally waxed them) eyebrows in indignation. "Assdick, that's a nice one."

"What does it say about people with excessive attitude and poor people skills, because whatever it is, I'm sure you have it," she bit, stretching her feet out to kick him from the chair beside her. He chuckled, amused.

"If I've got it, you've got it twice as bad," he hummed happily before he handed over her bone-crushingly thick textbook. "Now study, or you really will be a hobo."

Fifteen minutes later, she fell asleep. Tahno could help but smirk; he shrugged off his coat and tucked it around her. He scribbled a note on a sticky and posted it to her forehead before collecting his stuff and shuffling out the library.

-/-

When she woke up, it was light.

Which was funny because she and Tahno were in the university library at two in the morning.

Korra sat up abruptly, upsetting the textbook in her lap. It fell to the ground with a loud thud, but she didn't notice; she was too preoccupied with the bright blue sticky note he'd slapped on her forehead.

_Do Not Disturb: this species is known to slug you when you try to wake her up for her 9am exam._

She shook her head, exasperated, but also amused, when she noticed an unfamiliar person in the small chair beside her. He threw her a charming smile, complete with adorable dimples and bright green eyes that sparkled like summer leaves. "Hey!" he chirped. "Sleep well?"

Korra cracked her neck left and right, causing the boy to wince at the sound. "I've had better." She squinted, still not used to the light—the library had huge windows, so during the day it let in a lot of natural light. "What time is it?" she groaned, stretching her limbs.

"Uhhh, about…8:53!" he chirped.

"…WHAT."

And in the blink of an eye the boy watched as she leapt off her chair, grabbed the pencil he had been chewing between his teeth and dart out the library.

-/-

"I heard you made quite the commotion across campus yesterday morning," Tahno commented, flipping through the channels on the TV. Korra glared at him over the rim of her coffee mug.

"You didn't wake me up!" she hissed, kicking her legs up from their resting spot on his lap to try and knock him in the face. He easily quashed her efforts and slipped off her socks before starting to rub her feet. Korra noticed he had left the channel on BBC to watch Top Gear—she didn't really like Top Gear, (The hosts were pretty hilarious, and the challenges were pretty funny, but most of the time it was just celebrity guests she didn't know and car-speak she didn't understand) but he knew that, which is why he started to rub her feet. And for Korra, foot rubs were totally worth listening to them blabber on about V8 engines. "Please tell me you aren't studying for that girl you met in the student union building the other day," Korra begged, a teasing tone lacing every word. "She was way out of your league!"

He pressed harder into a particularly tight knot in the heel of her foot, and she sighed contently. "Still not as embarrassing as running over a blind girl and her guide dog on the green trying to make it to the history building for my 9 am exam."

"Mehhh," Korra blubbered, grabbing a pillow and stuffing it in her face to muffle her screams. "I apologized, like, fifty times."

"Fifty, huh."

"Okay. Slight exaggeration. But I was in a hurry!"

"Didn't even help pick up her stuff," he chided, clicking his tongue in mock disapproval.

Korra leaned up and smacked his arm. "Wouldn't have happened if you'd woken me up instead of letting me sleep in the library! God, what kind of friend _are _you."

"I left a note for someone," he defended. "And it apparently worked—someone woke you up, right?"

"Um, not exactly. Jeez, you're such an asshole." She closed her eyes and waited for Tahno to start rubbing her feet when the doorbell rang. Tahno threw her legs off his lap, silently telling her that she had to get the door. Reluctantly, Korra got up and slid across their living room, reaching the door in a stumble.

"Hellooooo, what can I—oh. Hey." Korra practically ripped open the door and turned sheepish at the sight of the boy she had met yesterday morning in the library standing at her door, her stuff in his hand.

He crinkled his eyes with his smile, giving her a small salute. "Good afternoon! How'd you do on that exam?" He asked.

Korra rubbed the back of her neck, "Ah, good, I think." Which was true—she was pretty sure she aced it. She stepped inside and invited him in, which he happily accepted.

"Who is it?" Tahno called, bored, from the living room. She heard tires screeching from the TV.

"The recipient of your thoughtful note," Korra called before she turned to him and asked, "What's your name?"

"I'm Bolin." He said, cool and easy, that electrifying smile on his face. Everything about him screamed friendly, and she liked that. He handed her all her books and bag she'd left in the library when she'd left—Korra mumbled her thanks.

Tahno's head peaked into their view as he craned his neck back over the couch to look at them. "No way—Bolin? As in Bolin Beifong?"

He nodded, "The one and only," he puffed out his chest, proud. He wandered toward the living room and looked at Tahno, frowning, "Sorry, mate, I don't know who you are."

Tahno burst out laughing; a deep hearty laugh, one Korra recognized as the one he reserved for laughing at other people's expenses. "Oh my god, Korra, he's here to kick your ass!" Tahno laughed, wiping stray tears from his eyes.

The two of them wore matching expressions of confusion. Only slightly nervous (Bolin was a pretty big guy—just as tall as Tahno, but twice as muscular. She had no problem kicking Tahno's lanky ass, but this guy…) Korra turned and saw Bolin was just as confused as she was. "I don't get it. Why would he want to kick my ass?" She frowned, "Sorry, if it's about that pencil I stole, I can get you another…"

Tahno was still laughing. "Korra….the girl you ran over in the courtyard yesterday," he said, voice rough from laughter, "is his _sister."_

Bolin's eyes widened considerably. "That was you?"

_Shit._

"Uhhhh…"

"Go on, kick her ass. God knows she deserves it."

"TAHNO!"

Bolin didn't crack his knuckles, roll up his sleeves, or do anything that insinuated her untimely smack down. Instead he let out a joyous laugh, much more melodious that anything Tahno had ever let out. "Oh, man, you sure pissed her off! I was hoping I could thank whoever it was." He grabbed Korra and wrapped his arm around her neck, pressing his knuckles into her head and giving her a noogie. "I've been meaning to get back at Toph for ages. Can't let your little sister one up you, you know? So, thanks!"

"No…problem? I guess?" Korra shrugged as Bolin walked past her and into the living room, plopping himself on the other end of the couch. "Whatcha watchin'?" he asked.

"Top Gear."

"Whoo, I love that show! Clarkson's a kick."

Korra rolled her eyes. Boys. She looked back at the kitchen and realized how hungry she was. "I'm gonna cook an early dinner, do any of you want—"

"Hey, put mayo on my turkey club, will you?" Tahno asked.

Bolin bounced up and down in the chair. "Ooh, ooh, can you make a BLT? Pleeeeease?"

"Oh. My. God." She grumbled in disbelief, but she rolled up her sleeves and went to go slice up the tomatoes.

"Thanks, babe," Tahno called teasingly, when he heard the bacon sizzling on the pan. Korra swore she could hear them whispering conspiringly before Bolin chimed in as well, "You're the best, schnookums!"

She groaned.

-/-

"LEFT, GO LEFT DAMMIT."

After watching two episodes of the damn car show, Korra suggested the three of them put their knowledge to the test—meaning, of course, she wanted to play Mario Kart. Tahno was always a little reluctant to play with her (mainly 'cause he sucked). It wasn't hard to get Bolin to play; he was completely the video game type, like her, marveling at her collection of games and consoles. "You have Mario Party, too!?" he had exclaimed, and Korra felt slightly relieved that she wasn't the only one around that preferred the Mario games over COD—not that she didn't like COD, she totally did. But

But right now, it was Rainbow Road, and Korra was delivering the butt whooping of a lifetime, much to the other boys chagrin.

"I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU SEND ANOTHER BLUE SHELL—"

"hahah!"

"I HATE YOU!"

As they were rounding out the last corner on the track, Korra heard a phone ring, the ringtone a blast of jazz music. She pressed the "A" button harder on the controller and cheered when Yoshi crossed the finish line before she turned and found Bolin's controller already tossed on the their coffee table, he standing in the kitchen and talking on the phone quietly.

Korra tried to block out Tahno's complaints about Rainbow Road and how "it's like a fucking bowling lane and there isn't bumpers" so she could listen to Bolin's phone conversation. Okay, yeah, eavesdropping wasn't exactly ethical, but she couldn't help it. If you were talking, she wanted to know about what.

_"—yeah yeah, I'll pick up your drumsticks. What did you call them again? Dark Meat? That's a strange brand—oh, haha, very funny, Toph. Yeah, I can pick up some fried chicken too. Mhmmm. Bye!"_

"That the little sister I crushed?" Korra asked nervously as she padded in kitchen.

"Ah, yes, you forgot blind," Bolin added, but she knew he was only messing with her. She opened the fridge and reached for another cola, but noticed the whiskey on the counter beside her. With a shrug, she grabbed both the soda and the whiskey before she poured a helping serving of the alcohol in her drink. She took a big swig, smiling contently. She shook her glass out at Bolin, "Want some? I could mix you something else, if you'd prefer."

Bolin shook his head. "Nah, I'm good. I still feel the hangover from last weekend," he joked. "Where'd you learn to mix drinks?"

She threw her thumb behind her towards Tahno, who was already flipping through the channels again, trying to see if there were any more re-runs of Everybody Loves Raymond on. "Me and Tahno are bartenders."

Bolin squinted as he leaned down, studying her face. "Guns and Roses Pub?" he asked, "Down on 15th street?"

Korra beamed, flexing her arms. Was she that good a bartender people knew who she was? "You bet. I'm the guns—Tahno's the roses," she teased, and she heard Tahno's mumbled complaints from the other room. "How'd you know?"

He continued to study her like some specimen, stroking an imaginary beard on his chin for the show of it. "Yep," he finally said, lips popping as he elongated the "p". "I've _definitely_ hit on you. _At least_ three times in that bar."

Korra smiled, all pearly white teeth. "Can't say I blame you."

Bolin, however whined, all childish and unfitting for such a big guy. "Awww man! My drunken pick-ups are embarrassing. Nothing compared to my suave, smooth talking, sober self."

A brow rose in indignation. "What makes you think you're so smooth?"

He winked. "You've already invited me without knowing my name AND you cooked me dinner on the first date! Tell me that isn't charm working at its finest."

Korra crossed her arms across her chest. "What if I already have a boyfriend?" She pointed at Tahno. "Ever think that maybe Tahno's my boyfriend?"

"—I'm not her boyfriend—"

"—He's not your boyfriend—"

The two said simultaneously, tones bored and affirmative, causing Korra to huff. She could feel her cheeks heat in the slight embarrassment. "Well, whatever," she grumbled, downing the rest of her drink. Suddenly, her expression took on devious. "I think I remember those pick-up lines." She got all up in his face, like he had done to her, smile crooked and devilish.

Bolin groaned, closing his eyes and scrunching his nose as if preparing for a punch in the face. "Alright, what was it?"

"You told me you were Bond. James Bond."

"…did I at least remember the British accent?"

"Nope. _Un acento Español_"

"AW MAN!"

.

"How do you drink that stuff?" Bolin admonished, watching her drink her nth cup of coffee.

The two of them were sitting in a Starbucks, late in the morning. It was a Thursday, and neither of them had classes until late afternoon. (They both agree, the mornings were _evil) _so they often spent their mornings together. Korra couldn't believe she didn't get to know Bolin until a few weeks ago. She was here for two years, and she hadn't even heard his name before! He was well known across campus; wherever they walked, someone was always greeting him with countless fist bumps and bro hugs. Always at the biggest parties, always on the megatron at the football games, face painted school colors—he was even an athlete himself. She didn't follow baseball though, so she hadn't really known. But they both liked sports, especially boxing (he made a great sparring partner), they both liked video games, and most importantly, they both liked drinking.

They both liked drinking _a lot_.

Few weeks' time and even Tahno was commenting on how close they grew. The three of them made quite the crew and little by little Bolin had practically moved in.

She shrugged. "I've got four exams this week—one does what one must to stay awake," she explained, flipping through her textbook. Bolin frowned as he noticed the heading of the chapter in big bold red letters in a language that wasn't Enlgish—or Spanish? "I thought you were a Spanish Major," Bolin cocked his head to the side, trying to make sense of the symbols.

"I am."

"Then why…?"

"I'm also a French major."

"Uhhh…" that didn't help. Like, at all.

"And a Chinese major."

Bolin looked like his eyes could fall out of his head. "Um, why?" She opened her mouth to speak but Bolin waved his hands about, shushing her. "No, how?" he corrected.

Korra laughed at his obvious bewilderment. "I took Spanish in high school, right? All those AP's and placement tests got me a lot of credits. I also tested out of beginners French because I still remember some from when I lived in Canada."

"You lived in Canada?" he asked as he reached for Korra's mug, sneaking a sip as if thinking it would taste different this time. It obviously still tasted like coffee and he pulled a face, taking a quick bite of his pumpkin muffin to try and rid the taste from his mouth.

"Quebec, Born and raised! Ten years before we moved to Alaska." she said proudly. "My mother can't speak French, but my dad does. He taught me a little."

Bolin smiled as she drank the rest her coffee. "So you're Canadian? Doesn't that mean you're supposed to be a little…"

She knew where this was going, it always did. "What, nicer?"

He nodded. "You're nowhere near Canadian Nice; what a dishonor to your country. You owe me, like, twenty kinder eggs for this disservice," he teased, sticking his tongue at her. She reciprocated.

"What are you gonna do about it, eh?"

He reached over and tried to swipe a piece of her pumpkin muffin, since he had finished his, but she smacked his hand away. "So, why Chinese too? Why all the extra work?"

Korra shrugged. "I like languages. I'd like to be able to talk to as many people around the world as possible. And just think, trying to get a job, I can tell them I speak five languages. That's pretty impressive. Makes a good resume for a translator, don't you think?"

"I counted four."

"Eu posso falar português, também ."

"Show off."

"Yeah," she sighed dreamily, reaching across the table for Bolin's book on early childhood education. "Now, enough talk, time to study! I'll quiz you." She cleared her throat before she said, "Turn to page three hundred and ninety fouuurrrr" in what Bolin could only describe as the worst Snape impersonation he'd ever had the misfortunate to hear.

"That was terrible," he quipped dryly.

"Hey come on—"

"It was quite terrible, you should really—"

_EEEEEEEK! CRASH!_

The entire Starbucks erupted with the sound of chair legs screeching against linoleum floors as they all stood up abruptly, craning their necks to see out the windows. Korra saw the faint trail of smoke and realized that the crashing noise had been a car.

"Oh my god, the kid got hit!" someone shouted.

"He's not getting up! You, call 911!"

"Does anybody know CPR?"

She dropped all her things and ran out the door, yelling at Bolin to follow her. The crowd surrounding the boy parted a bit to let her in as she shouted that yes, she knew CPR, so you better move so she can see if she can help. Only one person still crowed around the boy, a girl about her age, eyes wide with hysteria. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, He just ran out into the street for no reason I don't know—"

"Just calm down," Korra murmured, putting her ear to his chest. She cursed when she realized she didn't hear a heartbeat. "Aw man," delicately, she moved his head, praying on everything that his neck wasn't broken—one wrong move and they'd both be screwed. But luckily, it didn't seem to be. She turned to the girl beside her and said, "When I tell you to, I want you to do chest compressions, got it?" She showed her quickly where to put her hands before scooting around, ready to administer breaths. "1, 2—" she moved he boys head a bit more and then she noticed—she was slow about it, there was a massive gash on his face—but it was him, for sure. "M-Mako?" she stuttered.

"Korra? Korra! What are you doing?" that was Bolin's voice, she was sure of it.

She shook her head, snapping out of it. Okay, this was Mako. But this was also going to be Dead Mako if she didn't get going with this CPR, stat. She began performing CPR, the other girl doing the chest compressions. She did it routinely, checking for pulse, and after about the fourth time, she heard it—that faint, oh-so-wonderful heartbeat.

"Got it," she whispered. "I got it!" she shouted to the on looking crowd, who collectively sighed with relief. "I got it, he's breathing again."

Moments later, two paramedics with a stretcher beckoned her out of the way, and they began strapping him on, stuffing him with needles and IV's and covering him in bandages and everything else he needed. Bolin came up from behind her, squeezing her shoulders and guiding her off the street. "Well, well, it seems we've got a hero on our hands! Where'd you learn that trick?"

She didn't even hear the ambulance approaching. "Lifeguard," she answered, clearly distracted.

"What do they need lifeguards for in Canada? Aren't all the pools frozen over so they can play hockey?" he jabbed, poking her with his elbow. She didn't respond, prompting him to wave his hand on front of her face. "Earth to Korra?" Still nothing. He followed her gaze and noticed she was watching the medics load the kid into the van. "Did…you didn't know that kid, did you?"

Korra nodded. "That's Mako."

"Who's Mako?"

"My…ex-oh it doesn't matter." She said, voice low and gruff. Bolin winced, noticing that they had hit a sour note. It attempts to distract her, he squeezed her hand and twirled her around, having them face the Starbucks entrance. "Come on, back to studying. You teach me about how rug rat education works and I'll teach you a proper Snape interpretation. Sound good?" He poked her back and kicked the back of her calves gently and she finally walked on her own accord back inside. "I'll even buy you another coffee!" he added. "How do you take it, again?"

That got her to smile. "Black as Tahno's soul."

-/-

AN: As always, your opinions are cherished! I'll try to be better about replying to them individually, I know I kind of suck at that. I love them all though, anonymous or not. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

car·pe di·em: _noun: _to seize the fucking day

* * *

.

"Just tell me!"

"No!"

"Come on!"

"Bolin, drop it."

Bolin made a spectacle of dramatically flailing his arms around, spinning in over-dramatic anguish. A few people walking past them in the other direction giggled at his antics. Korra swung her backpack off and used it to hit him, not too hard, but just enough to get him to stumble, which of course led to a greater spectacle of him trying not to fall.

"What have you got in there, a library?" he moaned, rubbing the back of his shoulder where she had taken a swing. She opened her mouth to answer, but he had already reached over and grabbed her bag and swung it over one of his shoulders. "Jeez, if I didn't know any better I'd say you were trying to write your own language with the books you've got in here."

Korra reached to get her bag back but he turned his body to prevent her. If he wanted to lug around that thing, fine, she wasn't going to argue with him. "You carrying my stuff isn't going to make me tell you."

She expected it to get tossed back in her face, but he didn't do that. He only moaned grumpily. "You don't play a fair game. I just want to know who this Mako kid is."

"Game?" she parroted. "This isn't twenty questions."

"Can we-?" his eyes lit up.

"NO!"

He paused. "Well, how about another proposition." He suddenly dropped both their bags and crouched in front of her, scuffling on his feet and readying his hands.

He wanted to wrestle her.

"Come on, then. You've wanted to have a wrestling match. Let's go."

Korra checked her watch. "I have class in ten minutes."

Bolin shrugged. "Won't take that long to beat you."

Korra looked around and noticed more students eying them warily, some stopping from afar to watch. "Oh no, you won't beat me. I'll beat you."

"Prove it. When I win, you spill."

"And when I win, you never bring it up again," she smiled, rolling up her sleeves and matching his position.

"Alright then—ladies first."

* * *

"Not again!"

Korra and Bolin shared sheepish looks as Katara opened the door and gave them, quite possibly, the most defeated look to have ever graced her face. "Korra, you were in here a few weeks ago! And look—" she pointed to Bolin, "Now you've dragged this boy into going along with your antics too."

"What was she in for last time?" Bolin asked, voice muffled due to a big cloth pressed to his face.

Katara groaned, flipping through the clipboard. "Let's see; you've been in here for a total of nine times in the past two years."

"Nine?" Bolin sputtered in disbelief.

"Stitches from when she cracked her head open—I suspect that's when the stupidity got worse—a concussion, dislocated shoulder, broken toe, glass embedded in her arm, dislocated the _other _shoulder, bit through her tongue, sprained ankle, and the cherry on top," Katara declared with a sigh, tossing the clipboard aside, "she cut her finger off—I sewed it back on."

Bolin stared at Korra's hands, trying to find the injury as if it were still there. "How did you cut your finger off!?"

"It was just the tip of it!" Korra defended, still cradling her wrist. "It was just the tippy top of my finger, I swear! Tahno slammed a door shut and my hand was in the door and I couldn't quite get it out in time and well—he cut my finger off. But see!" she held up her bad hand, injured. "Katara sewed it up all nice!" She smiled proudly. "She's the best nurse in this entire damn hospital!"

Katara didn't even crack a smile as she delicately tried to pry Bolin's hands away from the bloodied cloth pressed to his nose. "Let me see," she soothed. When she got the towel away, she saw the damage—a horribly bruised and bloodied nose, slightly crooked, complete with not one, but two black eyes. "Oh, sweetheart, what on Earth did you two do?" she asked quietly, careful fingers touching and pinching about at his nose. Bolin winced with every touch, but still managed to give her a smile.

"I challenged Korra to a wrestling match."

Katara snorted. "I hope you've learned your lesson," she begged, and he nodded ferociously, only to wince at the horrible idea. "She doesn't exactly play nice," she elaborated before she gave Bolin's face one last look. "Well, it's _definitely _broken, as I'm sure you were already aware. One of the more awful nose breaks I've seen. But we'll put a splint on it and it should be fine—shouldn't be horrendously crooked."

"Korra, you've ruined the face of an angel," Bolin joked as Katara cleaned up some of the blood on his face.

"Funny, I don't remember breaking my own face."

"Well aren't you clever."

"And what have you done, missy?" she asked, gesturing to Korra's wrist. "Sprained?"

"Ah, yeah." She tried wiggling it around, but yelped at the pain. "Bolin kinda stomped on it."

"Sorry, I couldn't see on account of _you gave me two black eyes."_

Korra laughed. "This was all your idea, dude!"

"Enough, enough," Katara mediated, even though the other two were clearly smiling—even she cracked a grin. "I'll be right back with the splints," she told them, the door slamming on her way out.

"Is Katara always the one to fix you up in the ER?" Bolin asked, poking at his broken nose, wincing with each touch.

Korra sighed, removing his hand from his face and putting it in his lap. "Yeah, after the fourth time they sensed a pattern and told her I was her responsibility." She pulled a face.

Bolin laughed. "Maybe you should just skip the ER and go straight to her house."

She didn't smile or raise her fist to smack him for his comment. For a moment, her eyes glazed over with something sad before she mumbled, "I tried that one time."

A small silence settled between them before Katara opened the door, a splint for his nose and a brace for Korra's wrist in her hands. She made sure the splint for the nose fit and gave Bolin a lollipop for his troubles, at his request. Katara wrapped Korra's wrist up and smiled, bopping her unbroken nose. "Try to be more careful, eh? I 'd hate to lose my baby cousin because she was doing something utterly _stupid."_

Korra laughed and gently knocked her knuckles against Katara's chin. "Got it, Doc."

She smiled back and handed Korra a lollipop as well before she nodded to the door. "Now, you and your boyfriend get out of here."

"Ha, she _wishes_!" Bolin's eyes sparkled as he laughed wildly, Korra shoving him out of the room. "Hey, that's my toe!" he bellowed as their echoes travelled down the hall.

Katara watched them leave with a faint smile on her lips. "Invite him over to dinner sometime!" and with that, she went to take her coffee break, Bolin's laughter echoing even louder through the halls.

* * *

"Think we can bribe Tahno into going through the drive thru at Mickey D's?" Bolin piped up as the two of them sat outside the hospital. "I heard the best way to remedy a broken nose was French fries."

"If he ever gets here," she grumbled, kicking at the first of autumn's fallen leaves on the ground. The air was still warm enough to go without a coat, but the breeze was still a little cooler than she would have hoped. "God, that asshole said he'd wait for us—bet he went home."

"Yeah, he probably wasn't too happy to—hey, is that—is that _him?" _he pointed to the entrance a few yards away where a tall fellow in a brown leather jacket and a red scarf came out, a large bandage on his face.

"What are you—_shit!" _Korra squealed, immediately taking a step behind Bolin in hopes that his height could hide her.

"It is, isn't it!" He threw his hands up and waved them about, hoping to grab the other guy's attention. "Yoohoo, Mako! Over here!"

Korra peaked over Bolin's shoulder to see if his efforts at drawing attention worked and yes, _oh shit, _they certainly had. He was making his way over, hands in his pocket. "—Korra? There you are."

She stepped out from behind Bolin, cheeks warm with embarrassment. "Hey, Mako." She mumbled.

He nodded politely, lips twirling up in a faint grin. It fell slightly when he looked at Bolin. "You're…?"

"Oh, I'm Bolin. I was in the Starbucks when miss Lifeguard Extraordinaire gave you your little kiss of life."

Mako coughed into his hand, trying to disguise his red cheeks. "Ah, right." He scuffled a bit before saying, "Thanks, Korra. Really." He leaned down and tried to get in her line if sight, seeing as she was still staring at her feet. She finally looked up, saw his smile, and looked away. "Right, no problem." She tucked some stray strands of hair behind her ear out of nervousness "So, uh, everything okay?" she asked, rocking back and forth on her heels. "What are you doing at the hospital?"

He tapped his head. "Check-up after the accident. Just want to make sure I didn't kill too many brain cells." His brow furrowed. "So why are you here, exactly?"

"Well, you see, I challenged Korra to a wrestling match and—"

Mako held up a hand. "Say no more." He stuffed his hands back in his pocket and strolled past them. "Well, come on. I'll drive you two home."

Korra shook her head. "No, that's alright, Tahno's supposed to—" the words fell off her lips as realization hit and she pouted. "He's not coming is he? He called you! Didn't he?"

"Yeah. Said he picked up a last minute shift at the pub. Also, he says he hates you."

"Figures." Korra grumbled.

"Consider it my thank-you gift." Mako urged, and with that, Bolin tugged on Korra's ponytail and the three of them headed off to Mako's car.

"….Does that gift include French fries and a milkshake?"

* * *

Tahno plopped down on the couch beside her and nabbed the bottle of wine, taking a sip. "We've got a problem."

"Agreed," she snapped, yanking the bottle back from his hands. "You've been drinking my stuff."

He shook his head; no snappy comebacks or belittling comments means that there really was a problem. "We can't put it off anymore—we need to rent out that third room."

Korra frowned. "We're not behind on rent, are we?" She mentally tried to think up how much she had saved in the bank—the oh-so-embarrassingly little amount.

"No, but, ever since Hasook left we've been picking up his slack. I've already had to dip into a few other accounts and pick up a few more shifts at the bar. You have too."

"Hasook was a no-good stinkbag." She gruffed, taking another sip of wine; this time, she willingly passed the bottle to Tahno. Even Tahno agreed that Hasook was an asshole. Long ago, he had answered their ad and after meeting him, both decided that they didn't really like him, but they liked his money. He was only around for two months before he dished them out one last month's pay and told them he "couldn't stand them anymore" and left. Not like they minded.

"I wish Bolin could just move in," Korra sighed. Tahno had actually been the one to suggest that. He was over enough, so much that he had begun to think Korra had given him a key (she did). But when they asked him, he politely turned down their offer, explaining that he shared his apartment with his sister, Toph, so he could keep an eye on her. He'd explained that Toph was nowhere near helpless—she was already making more money than any of them as a musician. She had a guide dog and she could do most things on her own. But sometimes even she had to ask for help, and Bolin wanted to be there to give her the extra hand she needed.

"Maybe I should make another ad," Tahno said.

"Just use the last one."

"Do you want another Hasook?"

"Nghhh."

"Thought so." He started to get off the couch, but he stopped himself. "…Hey Korra?"

Uh-oh. That was not an all-too-common tone. "…yeah?"

"…What if I asked Mako? I heard he was looking for a place to—"

"No."

Tahno rolled his eyes. _Such a baby sometimes. _"Come on, Kor, be reasonable."

She shook her head. "No! I can't believe you'd even think-" she stopped dead in her tracks, eyes narrowing with realization. "You!" she hissed, angry. "That's why you called Mako, isn't it? That's why he came to pick us up from the hospital. You've been conspiring behind my back this whole time!"

"Sor_ry _but I was trying to save our behinds so we don't get kicked out. We need a roommate, and right now, he needs a house. He can pay and everything. I thought maybe after you guys get reacquainted, you'd consider letting him stay here—it's not like you haven't lived with him before," Tahno reminded her.

"Yeah, well, that was _before_."

Tahno sighed. He wasn't going to get anywhere with her, not tonight. "Fine. I'll put out a new ad. But Korra? If we can't find anyone, I'm asking him to live with us. No arguments. I'm not going to be homeless and sleep in the bar."

She couldn't really argue with that. "….Fine!" she grumbled, exasperated. "Better make sure it's a damn good ad."

* * *

As it turns out, Tahno made Bolin make the ad. Whether or not it was a good idea, Korra had yet to decide. "It's a survey," Korra announced, turning the paper over to see there were more questions. "Why would I care what they think of the movie Space Jam?"

"Trust me; you don't want to room with someone who doesn't like Space Jam."

Tahno snatched the paper from her hands. "Is grilled cheese a food group?" Tahno read aloud, which so happened to be question 34 out of 50. "Bolin, what the hell is this?"

"Aw, come on! It's a good ad!" he defended. "Look, this survey covers everything you need to know about a person."

"Like whether or not they prefer David Tennant or Matt Smith?"

He snapped his fingers. "Exactly!" he leaned in and whispered in Korra's ear, "It's a trick question—Christopher Eccleston is the best."

"This is stupid," Tahno grumbled, crumpling the paper up and throwing it in the bin. "We're not printing this."

"…Well…"

The rooms echoed with the sound of Korra and Tahno simultaneously smacking their foreheads with the palms of their hands. "You didn't!"

Bolin nodded exuberantly. "You already got a call! She said she'd be around sometime this afternoon."

_Ding-dong._

"—like right now!"

Korra and Tahno groaned. Korra threw Tahno a nervous glare, but he simply shrugged and trudged out the living room and went off to answer the door. Like had had mentioned a few days back, they needed a roommate. And it couldn't hurt to meet the girl, right?

He opened the door, only to be blinded by the most beautiful girl he'd ever had the pleasure to lay eyes on. She was tall, taller even with her rockin' high-heeled boots that went all the way up to her knees. Her clothes were luxurious, her black hair was perfect in every which way, shape, and curl, and her skin was flawless. She smiled at them with pale green eyes and red-painted lips and Tahno knew he was in love—he had seen her before, mostly in the student union around noon, always at her computer watching F1 Racing or car auctions.

This was the girl—this was _his _girl.

Or at least, he was going to try his hardest to make sure that statement was true.

"Hello," he greeted, voice about an octave lower than normal. Korra heard it from down the hall and instantly knew he found this girl attractive—she'd seen him hit on enough girls at the bar to know what that voice meant.

"Hello," she chirped back. She held up Bolin's flyer. "I'm here about the roommate search? My name's Asami."

Bolin leapt to his side, the two squeezed in at the doorway while the girl stood there, still smiling, on their front porch. He squinted and looked at the survey before saying, "…which character do you prefer when playing Mario Kart?" Bolin asked.

"Luigi. Always."

Bolin nodded, approving. "That's good, that's good, she won't take up any of our characters," he said to Tahno, who nodded as well, all of a sudden thinking that maybe this ad of Bolin's was a good idea after all. "Alright, let's see. What's the best alcoholic drink?"

Asami shook her head. "I don't drink much, so I don't really have a preference—"

"Don't worry, we'll fix that. Okay: blur or red Doritos?"

"Red."

"…I can't find anything wrong with her, can you, Tahno?" Bolin asked.

"Nope not a thing," he stepped aside and ushered Asami inside. Her smile brightened as she stepped in. As they closed the door, Tahno noticed that her car was piled high with things. "Did you bring all your stuff?"

She chuckled nervously. "The ad said you guys were kinda desperate, and so am I, so I thought, hey why not take a chance you know?" the girl went ahead and sat at their kitchen table while Tahno lingered behind so he could smack Bolin upside the head for calling them desperate.

"There's only one girl you need to impress," Tahno explained when he joined her at the table. "KORRA! GET IN HERE! WE HAVE A GUEST."

Korra stumbled into the kitchen, trying not to frown. She didn't like this situation at all. What if she was a ditz? A slob? A know-it all? She already had Tahno! But when she got there, she was surprised to be face to face with the girl who stood beside her outside that Starbucks when, you know, she saved Mako's life.

"You…"

"You…."

The two girls pointed at each other, mouths wide and agape. Korra's mouth slowly split into a grin. "You're the girl, right? The one outside of Starbucks with the chest compressions, yeah?"

Asami considerably paled, clamping her surprised mouth shut. "y-yeah, that was me." She finally mumbled.

Korra pulled out the kitchen chair and sat down, propping her feet up on the table. "You're the one that ran over Mako," she said, a statement not a question. If it was possible, Asami paled even more. She opened and closed her mouth, trying to find something to say, but she was at a lost. She started to get up to make a run for the door, but Korra stopped her.

"I like her already. Boys, go get her stuff. " Korra grinned. "She's staying."

* * *

notes: yeah if you've been wondering what the "ships" are for this story, the answer is I don't really know yet. But it doesn't really matter, that isn't the central focus in this story-it's never really, in any mine. I usually write friendships "romantically", if that makes sense, so that should tie you all over, whatever your preference. If it doesn't, just ignore me. Well, like always, thoughts and opinions are cherished, whatever they may be! Thanks for any support you might give, like the six who gave me reviews! (whispered touches I laughed for like 2 hours ilu) (PS: I haven't given up on my other stories, don't worry!)


	3. Chapter 3

Asami practically rain into the restaurant; she waved the poor hostess off as she hastily pushed past the front podium and into the back of the room where she spotted Tahno and Korra in a booth. Korra was in the middle of telling Tahno a story he didn't look very interested in as he sipped on his soda. Asami slid into the booth, her bag on her shoulder falling awkwardly in Tahno's lap. She immediately reached for a sip of his drink.

"No, no, that's-!"

But Tahno's warning wasn't quick enough. He tried not to snicker at the face she pulled when she swallowed roughly. "That's not soda." he told her flatly. "Well, it is. Some of it. Half of it."

She pushed the drink back his way. "For God's sake, it's barely even noon," she chided.

Korra flashed her a grin. "It's happy hour somewhere!" Korra sung, and even Asami couldn't help but crack a smile. The waitress, seeing a third party member arrive at the table, came to take her order. With initiative, Asami readily covered Tahno's mouth. Korra was impressed—only two weeks in, and Asami was already learning how to deal with Tahno. "Don't listen to him; I'll just have coke, please," she said.

The waitress gave her a bored look as she threw her thumb over her shoulder. "Dealer's down the street." she deadpanned, and the three of them just stared. The waitress, whose nametag read "Mai" rolled her eyes. "We sell Pepsi products, okay? After awhile, you get a little bored with the normal response, I was just trying to…because," she groaned, slapping her notebook closed. "Fuck it," she grumbled under her breath. "Pepsi alright?"

Asami nodded mutely.

"Suuuuper," Mai drawled unenthusiastically. "I'll be right back to take your order."

"Hey," Korra said once Mai was out of earshot; she kicked Asami under the table, but accidently got Tahno instead—he threw her a dirty look she ignored. "Did you manage to fix it?"

Asami grinned as she lifted the heavy bag on the table. She pulled put Korra's rather battered old laptop. "Yup! I managed to recover all your files—even the paper you had up! I don't think it's all there, but a good chunk of it is."

Korra let out the biggest sigh of relief. Tahno gave her a quizzical look as the young girl deflated in the booth, her head falling against the tabletop. "That's not clean—I would know. I never clean ours." he grimaced and slid his hand under her head, expecting her to lift it, but she didn't—now she was just dead weight on his hand.

"You're a _god," _Korra mumbled, finally lifting her head and clutching her laptop close to her chest. "How on earth did you manage to recover the files? The guy I called at tech support said my computer was probably as mutilated as road kill."

Asami pulled a disgusting face at the visual as Mai set her soda on the table before walking back to the kitchen. So much for speedy ordering. "It wasn't very easy, I'll give you that. Your computer is pretty old. But, a computer's still a computer." She gave them each smug look. "I'm that good."

"I'll say!" Korra cheered, turning on her computer and finding everything where it needed to be.

"I replaced a bunch of stuff, including the battery—you don't need to keep it plugged in the wall all the time now." Asami told her. "I also installed a new anti-virus software, so make sure it updates when it asks. And Korra?" Blue eyes looked up. "Don't click on all those pop-up ads, huh?"

Tahno snickered, and this time Korra aimed for him when she kicked under the table. "I don't click on pop up ads. What do I look like, an idiot?" she scoffed, praying she was hiding her embarrassment well.

"Yes you do," Asami took a look at Tahno's open menu. Tahno and Korra's mouth fell wide open and Asami looked up, confused at the quiet. "What?"

Tahno laughed, pulling Asami in a gruff side hug. "Aw, hear that Korra, she called you an idiot! and it only took a few days!"

Asami'e eyes widened considerably at the realization. "No, no, no! I didn't mean you were an idiot, I'm so sorry. I meant that you do uh, click the pop-up ads…" She stopped when she found the both of them grinning. "You guys suck." she mumbled, flustered.

"Okay, what will it be," the waitress asked, stepping up to the table. They three of them noticed she didn't even bother to have a notebook. She had an old receipt turned over on a menu.

"We'll all have the special," Tahno perked up. Mai actually looked pleased—that's easy enough to put in the computer, she thought as she stalked off.

"What's the special?" Asami asked, pretending she wasn't a little bothered she didn't get a salad.

"You were probably going to get a salad, and that's not why we come here. This a burger joint. You will eat a burger," Tahno told her.

Asami wrinkled her nose. "I wasn't going to order a salad," she scoffed, twirling a strand of her hair in her fingers. The two gave her a pointed look before she rolled her eyes. "Okay, so I was going to get a salad. What's wrong with salads?"

Korra shrugged. "Nothing—but trust me, one bacon and peanut butter burger later, and you'll never even think about a salad."

"Bacon and peanut _what."_

"Shhhh, just let it be." Tahno whispered soothingly. He raised his hands and snapped his fingers, trying to get a particular passerby's attention _("You asshole, why do you feel a need to do that? You look like the biggest prick in the world!" "Well, it works")_ "You guys here to play trivia?" the guy asked, not bothered with being snapped at. Tahno nodded, and the guy handed him a sheet of paper. "Awesome! Just remember to have a team name before you send it up here—game starts in 20 minutes."

"Trivia in the afternoon?" Asami questioned, already peaking over Tahno's arm to see what team name he was choosing.

"Weird I know, but it's nice. Tahno and I like to play, but we work at night, so we get to play with all the old folks."

"They're a lot more knowledgeable than your average college student," Tahno grumbled. "Makes beating them a hell of a lot more satisfying."

"Helloooooo ladies!" a booming voice called before the three noticed Bolin sliding into the empty seat beside Korra. "Time to win some trivia! Ooh, did you already pick the name?"

"No," Tahno said, sliding the paper to Bolin. "Nothing stupid." he warned.

"Okay, The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles it is!"

"God_damn it."_

* * *

Tahno gave a polite smile to the last customer in the bar. "Have a good night, bud," he told him quietly, and the man tipped his hat in response, a buzzed smile on his face. Tahno waited for him to leave before he practically ran to the door and locked it shut. With a sigh of relief he slid down the glass of the door and fell to the floor in a thump. "I thought he'd _never_ leave."

Korra groaned in agreement, slumping against the bar. She checked the clock—3:58 AM. "Jesus Christ," she grumbled. "He sure took his sweet time talking your ear off."

Tahno nodded and got up off the floor; he picked up the first of many chairs and started turning them over on the tops. He ignored Korra's protests that the table didn't look that clean. He'd worry about making sure the tables were clean tomorrow—he had opening shift as well. "If it were anyone other than Tarrlok's friend, I would have kicked him out an hour ago."

She understood that. As the owner of the bar, Tarrlok spent a lot of time trying to impress people and keep his friends happy. There were many that the two had learned to keep entertained—even if it meant being expert conversationalists an hour or two past closing. Korra started collecting glasses for the kitchen. "Who was this one?"

"That Saikhan guy, his old police buddy." he whined. "He went on this rant about political conspiracy," Tahno held up his hands in mock surrender. "I can't even begin to tell you the details—I was sneaking tequila shots just to stay awake."

Finding the rag she tucked in her apron, she started wiping down the bar chairs. As Tahno passed, going in the back for a broom, she twirled her towel and whipped him, making him jump, and her shriek with laughter. He grumbled, but didn't retaliate until he was back, broom in hand. He gripped it in his hands like a baseball bat before smacking her in the butt, making her shout. "Any chipped glasses?" he asked over her shouts.

She looked in the bin, ignoring the stinging from the broom and biting back a clipped remark. "Uhh, nope, not tonight."

He frowned. "Hey, Sokka!" he called to the back, and he heard a pile of dishes clatter in the sink. Sokka was the third bartender and designated dishwasher for the night. The three of them had drawn straws at the beginning of their shifts, and Sokka lost. Again.

"WHAT, YOU IGNORAMUS."

"BATTER UP!"

Seconds and a crash or two later, and Sokka bounded out of the kitchen, saturated in the stench of onion rings and margaritas, a glass in one of his hands. "One," he warned, but he couldn't help the creeping smile that bloomed on his face. "Just one glass. And I swear, Tahno, if you whack this thing and break shit, I will _break you_."

Tahno shrugged, adjusting his grip. He surveyed the room and spotted a pile of empty beer bottles. "Korra, set those up."

"Eh?"

"The beers, the beer bottles. Put them in a little pyramid." While she did that, he turned to Sokka and proposed, "I hit them all down, from across the room. I walk out of this bar, no questions asked, and you two losers have to clean up for the rest of the night. Cash me out and all. Understood?"

Korra pouted, crossing her arms together as she backed away from the little pyramid, admiring her work. "Hardly fair. You're not the one who has to study for that Spanish—"

"_relaja, chica," _Sokka soothed. "Él nunca gana. Alright, fine. But I say…" Sokka tilted his head and watched as Tahno gripped the broom, how he bounced from heel to heel. Korra knew that look—that was his _calculating_ look. He moved about the bar, still rolling the chipped glass in his hands before he pointed to a small neon sign advertisement for Corona's on the wall. "If you hit that, then you have to do dishes tonight, and the rest of the _week_."

"Done," Tahno agreed."'Nough talk, toss the rock."

Sokka squinted. "Ehhh, I don't think that's the right sports terminology."

"Just throw it."

Sokka readied himself and tossed the glass. Tahno hit it sloppily; it didn't go very high, but it went wide and fast and just like Sokka said, and hit the Corona's sign that hung low on the wall.

"I hate you," Tahno grumbled and he headed to the kitchen, grabbing an extra rag off of Sokka's apron before he ducked out back. Korra swore she heard him mumbling something about "fucking science nerds".

Korra began taking apart the pyramid. "Physics?" she asked.

Sokka winked at her. "Physics."

"God knows how you do all that math in your head." She wondered.

Sokka puffed out his chest and leaned dramatically against the bar. "Well, little lady, it's it's pretty simple when you take velocity and—"

She fought a groan and lost. "It's 4am, save it for NASA or Mythbusters or _whatever_."

"Alright, kid," he laughed. "So, what's this big test tomorrow?"

She cringed. "I don't actually know. I haven't looked at the study guide yet."

"…when is it, exactly?"

"…10."

"_Dude_."

"I know, I know."

She didn't even clean for 2 more minutes when she heard Sokka sigh; he stretched and popped his back. "Scram, me and Tahno will finish up for you."

_"Uh, excuse me?" _the two heard from the kitchen, followed by a small clatter and a "_shit! another fucking shot glass!?"_

"Ignore him," Sokka pressed. He nodded towards the back door. "Call for a cab, and get home. And get some sleep, huh? You're not gonna do well staying up all night and cramming anyhow."

Korra was already bouncing to the coat closet to get her things. "You know not of my track record. And I don't need a cab. I'll just walk."

Sokka gave her a stern look, the best one he could manage seeing how tired he was. "Kor, it is 4 in the goddamn morning just take a cab, will you?"

"The university bus station has a stop three blocks over. It runs all night. I'll take that, okay?"

"Gahh. Just be careful, alright?"

"Uh-huh." she chirped. She stuffed her apron in her backpack.

"I mean it. A murder would really put me in a sour mood," he deadpanned.

"Don't taunt me with incentive."

Tahno stuck his head out of the kitchen doorway. "I mean, Sokka, I'd be more than happy to walk her home if you're so worried."

He shook his head. "No way. Roll up those sleeves and get to scrubbin', boy!"

Tahno visibly pouted, something he didn't often do. "Why are _you_ the favorite?" he asked, directing his question at Korra. "I'm_ clearly_ the more attractive one."

"It's the tits," Korra proclaimed proudly.

"Oh, so much more than that," Sokka puckered his lips out in a silly fashion, annoying pucker noise and all, and she stepped on the tips of her toes and gave him a quick kiss. She spun around, heading for the door when he reached out and smacked her rear end with his cleaning rag. "Her ass is much better too."

"If you weren't letting me out early, I'd throw you into the bar for that." she threatened.

"Excuses, excuses."

Regardless, she laughed as she pushed the back door open. "Bye guys! Thanks again, Sokka. And have fun with those dishes, _Tahno_."

"I hate you."

"I know!"

Outside, the air was cool and chilly, and Korra bundled up in her jacket more. She wrapped her hood around her and tried to make herself look as scary as possible—if you looked scary, you were less likely to get attacked, right? It was only three blocks though, she told herself. Nothing bad would really happen in three blocks, right?

Wrong.

A particularly chilly breeze sent a shiver down her back as she passed one of the bigger alleyways in the city, but it was nothing compared to the chill that went down her back when the man's voice rang against cold brick walls. "It's late."

She stopped, despite her better judgment to just fucking book it the next two blocks. And more so, she _answered_. "Uh, yeah." _real menacing, Korra._

He was just a shadow, a figure without a face cloaked in darkness. "What's a young woman like you doing out here all by yourself?"

"I just—" She tried to tell her legs to get a move on, but it wasn't working. She couldn't believe it—she was actually scared, so scared she couldn't even move.

"It isn't safe," the voice prompted her, stepping off from the back of the alley and coming towards her. "You could get hurt."

She swore she saw a faint glimmer of silver flash between his fingers.

Korra swallowed and started thinking of ways to escape. Scream? Tahno was always complaining how loud she was, someone was bound to hear her. Or maybe she could pull a _Taken _and call Bolin and shout identifiers in hopes of him finding her, but then again she knew she wouldn't get very far with "I CAN'T SEE HIS FUCKING FACE BUT I'M SURE IT'S SCARY AS SHIT."

This wasn't going to end well, she realized, as he kept coming at her. "What are you doing," she asked aloud.

The glimmer became apparent—it was a knife. "Relax."

_"I'm going to die,"_ the thought mournfully, when a loud honking of a car made the both of them freeze.

"Get _in!" _someone hissed, but Korra knew that voice. Sweet Lord, she knew that voice and for the first time in about a year she was truly happy to hear it. Her legs finally seemed willing and she jumped into the passenger's seat of the car, and the driver was already down the block before she could even buckle her seatbelt.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly, and Korra couldn't tell if he was angry or not.

She slumped in her seat. "I'm fine, Mako." she mumbled, refusing to look him in the eye. She was stubborn like that.

"You're shaking," he noted, and this time Korra only heard concern. She looked down and noticed that, yes, she was shaking, and badly at that.

"It's cold," she lied.

The car ride back to her place was painfully quiet—not even the radio was on. He never was one for music while he drove. He didn't say anything when he pulled up in front of her place, nor when she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out the car. She mumbled her thanks before she scurried out. She was halfway up the drive when she heard the window roll down. "Korra?"

She turned around. "…Yeah?"

"I-" he paused, sighing. "Call me next time you need a ride okay?" He offered her the tiniest smile.

"Even at four in the morning?" she said wryly.

"Even at four in the morning," he parroted back immediately, and his smile warmed. "Goodnight."

"…Goodnight."

He waited until she was inside before he drove away.

When Korra walked inside she found the kitchen lights still on, Asami on her laptop. Her glasses were resting low on the bridge of her nose and papers littered the table, as well as empty cans of Mountain Dew that had collected there over the past few days. "Oh, hey, about time you got back, I was getting worried—whoa, are you okay?"

"Huh?" Korra said lamely.

Asami frowned, the bags under her eyes magnified by her glasses. "You look like…death," she said. "For lack of a better word."

Korra became vaguely aware she was still shaking, if just a little. "Same can be said to you. Still not done with that lab report?"

Asami's head met with the table. "Noooo," she whined. "I never knew astronomy could be such a pain."

She chuckled and reached over the table for a soda. "Well, I have to study for that damn Spanish exam so I'll be up with you." The clock read 4:16 am.

"…Are you sure? Getting started now probably won't do you much good."

"Yeah," she said with a sigh, popping open a can of soda. "Something tells me I won't sleep much anyhow, so might as well be productive."

Asami didn't press. She'd only just met her and Tahno when she moved in last week, and she didn't feel like she knew them well enough to nag. "Okay, fine by me," she said with smile, pulling out a kitchen chair. "But be fairly warned, I've almost gotten to the point where I watch a Whose Line clip every 15 minutes just to stay awake."

Korra took a sip of soda while she opened her books. "That sounds like the most counter-productive thing I've ever heard. How do you watch just one clip?"

"Not very well. But I'm willing to pay the price for the prevention of the blackening of my soul." She slouched forward, something Korra already noticed she didn't do often and said, "Speaking of which, did you know that if you could theoretically survive floating in space, and you found yourself being sucked into a black hole, you could actually see the back of your own head?"

"…it's too late for this shit."

"Because of how the light gets warped, it's very—" she stopped. "I've reached the point."

"Scenes from a hat is a good one."

Asami was already searching through youtube. "I'm thinking Hoedowns." she smiled. But it hadn't even gotten halfway through the video when she noticed Korra had laid her head down on the kitchen table and fell asleep.

"…I wonder where Tahno is."

* * *

AN: Took longer to update than I had anticipated. This fic is very drabble-like but it does have an overarching plot-it's going to center around Mako and Korra's relationship, so I'm going to go ahead and move it under that category. This one only has two little stories, and they don't really relate to one another, but that's okay. Just wanted to establish that Asami is now in the know, and I needed to set up that last scene with Mako. There's parallels from the show so I'm sure there's no surprise as to who the "hooded figure" was. He'll be back.

As always, comments and opinions are welcomed and cherished! Thank you!

.


	4. Chapter 4

car·pe di·em: _noun: _to seize the fucking day

* * *

Asami drummed her fingers on her steering wheel to the beat of the song on the radio. She was bobbing her head and mouthing the words and Korra was thoroughly amused in the back seat. She had kicked her shoes off and stuck her feet on either side of the headrest of the passenger's side seat. She was eagerly awaiting Bolin's return so she could start another round of trying to stuck her big toe in his ear. The three of them had stopped at a gas station on their way back from IKEA because _someone _broke a coffee maker when she had thrown it in a fit of rage, aiming for a _particular _smug bastards face. Only she had missed. And broke a shelf instead. And Tahno was making her pay for both of them.

It wasn't fair, if you asked Korra.

Bolin had run inside with a handful of quarters he had collected in Asami's car on the way there and back, happy he had enough to buy a Mountain Dew and a candy bar. He had promised to come back in two minutes, tops, but that was ten minutes ago.

"What's taking him so long," Korra grumbled whilst wiggling her toes—they were starting to fall asleep.

Asami kept semi-dancing to the rap tune as she lowered the volume slightly. "Kid in a candy store—of course he's taking his sweet time," she grinned at her choice of words. Korra shrugged, looking out the window when she finally saw Bolin. She was about to roll down the window and yell at him (good naturedly, of course) when she noticed him dragging what must of have been the cashier outside as well, and pulling him around the side of the building.

Interest piqued, Korra slipped her shoes back on and braced herself for the autumn wind. "Be right back," she told Asami, who didn't seem to mind. She slammed the car door shut and more than jogged to catch up with the two of them—it didn't look hostile, but she'd had her fair share of alley situations, and she wanted to be sure.

"Bolin, what are you—"

_Meow!_

"Korra!" he said her name brightly, but his face looked crestfallen. She followed his line of sight and saw him in the gas station attendant leaning over a box of…kittens.

Bolin looked back up at the gas station attendant. "See, I told you they were out here! Can't you do something? Keep them inside? It's really cold."

The man looked properly guilty. "I wish I could, lad, but I just can't. I can give them a little food, water…but I'm afraid I can't do anything, not until I get off my shift." He paused, looking thoughtful. "I could call animal services?"

"And take them to the pound?" Bolin practically whined, looking at the box of meowing kittens—there were five. "Who knows what'll happen!" But all three knew exactly what would happen.

"Korrraaaaa," Bolin whined. He looked at her pleadingly. "Pleaseeeeee?"

"Me? You want me to take them?" Realization set in, and Korra sucked in a breath of chilly air. "Bo…this isn't just one cat. It's a whole litter." she paused. "Why can't you just take them to your place?"

Bolin grimaced. "I want to! But Toph wouldn't be able to see them or hear them very well, since they're so small, and her luck she'll step on them. Plus, everything in the house has to be orderly so she can find stuff and if they start scratching or moving stuff, she'll—"

"Okay, I get it, I get it," Korra said, sounding more exasperated then she would have liked. She stared at the little litter, their faces all scrunched up and whiskers all long and they looked so darn _cute._

And Bolin's puppy dog pout wasn't far from darn cute, either.

"Aw, shit," she mumbled, noticing how they were shaking. She looked back up at the attendant and asked, "You sure you can't keep them inside for the day?"

He shook his head.

She sighed for the umpteenth time. "Well, I'm not gonna leave them out in the cold." She tried not to crack a grin at how completely and utterly delighted Bolin looked. "Alright, Bo, grab the box, let's go."

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!"

His thanks kept going as they herded themselves into Asami's car. "About time!" she laughed. "What took so long?"

_Meow!_

Asami whipped her head and looked in the backseat, where the two of them were sitting, a box between them. "Uhhhh, guys?" she pointed, asking for an explanation. Korra and Bolin each picked up a kitten and held it in front of their faces.

"I didn't know 3 bucks in quarters could buy you a box of kittens." she said, but she smiled all the same. "Tahno's gonna have a field day," she reminded them.

Korra grinned. "It was one of the upsides in our heroic split-decision. Don't worry though, I'm sure we can convince him."

* * *

"_No."_

"But-!"

"No."

"Tahnoooooooo."

He eyed her peculiarly—Korra wasn't one to whine. "You brought home _five cats. Not one, not two. Five."_

Asami and Korra shared looks. "Well, yeah. Five new friends! That's more than you've had in a lifetime!" Korra exclaimed. Asami jabbed Korra in the stomach as reminder that her sass and sarcasm wasn't going to get Tahno on their side. She muffled an apology.

"Aw, come on Tahno," Asami cooed, picking up one of the kittens. "It's not like they're gonna be here forever. Just until we find them a home." she jumped on the sofa and pushed the cat under his nose. "Look at him! Could you seriously take this thing to the pound?"

He side-eyed her. "Asami."

"Tahno."

"Asami," he said, more sternly, but the cat was still in his face.

"Pleassseeeee," she begged, batting her eyes. Korra looked on, amused. Not like he'd ever admit it, but his cheeks were rather red at the moment.

He made an unappealing grunt that sounded like surrender. He tentatively grabbed the cat and set it in his lap and began stroking its ears, earning a loud purr. "Fine," he bit out, and the two girls cheered. "You have two week to find them a home."

"Okay." Korra agreed quickly.

"And they stay out of my room." he elaborated, still petting the cat.

"Done," Asami nodded.

"And I don't feed or clean up after them."

They both nodded. "Deal."

"HEY!"

All three of them jumped when their door was suddenly flung open. _("Curse the day you gave him the spare key." "Oh, shut it.") _ "Guess what!" Bolin all but yelled, already on his hands and knees, looking under the couch.

"Uhhh," Korra stammered, lifting her leg so Bolin could look under the other side of the sofa.

"You're here to clean the apartment?" Tahno piqued up, hopeful.

"No!" He stood up, eyeing the room again. "I just talked to Toph and she said I could keep one of the kittens! Just one, though."

"See? Told you I'd have no problems find them homes," Korra said smugly, and Tahno rolled his eyes.

"Now, where is my little…ah, there he is!" Bolin ran over and picked up the biggest of the litter; he was the darkest shade of orange of the lot and had bright green eyes. "There's my little buddy!" He pressed the cat to his face and kissed the top of its face. "I think I'll call him Pabu." He practically skipped to the door, which was quite an amusing sight. "Well, night guys and thanks again Korra for taking the cats and I can't believe Toph said I could keep one yes yes yes!" his excitement could be heard as he ran down the driveway.

"One down, four to go," Korra smiled, shaking her head. Asami leaned in close, tapping Korra's shoulder.

"Maybe just three," she whispered, and the pair noticed that Tahno, bored already, was half asleep on the couch, the kitten still in its lap; he was still petting it, a soft smile on his face.

* * *

Korra smiled, pleased with herself. She was almost done with putting up the stack of flyers for the kittens she had made, and with permission from the university, she was allowed to post them on various bulletins boards around campus, including the main ones in each building. She had gotten one almost everywhere—the boards by the rec fields, the pharmacy building, the geography building, the student union building, etc. Now she had one more building, the one on the far north of the campus—the criminology building.

Well technically, it was a wing off the political science building but it was big enough. She knew it wasn't very rational but she had been avoiding the place all day. More so, she was kicking herself for not going there first thing in the morning, when the chances of anyone being there was slim. It was now half past noon, and if she had any chance of not running into Mako, it was during the typical lunch hour.

Korra knew she was being ridiculous. She didn't have a reason to be avoid Mako, not really. After all, he more than saved her behind the other night when he saved her from that creeper in the alleyway. If it wasn't for him, she suspected she'd been hacked to pieces by now.

It was true that the two of them hadn't separated on the best of terms. It was after the first semester of college that they had their little…problem. For the longest time, Korra was sure that she didn't want to see Mako ever again. But now it was over a year later, and it was like…nothing had happened. An entire year had gone by and she hadn't even SEEN him—not until Asami had mistakenly run him over. And with the trips to the hospital and the ride home late at night—he was acting like nothing had happened. Like it was high school all over again and they were back to being best friends.

Korra opened the door to the building with a huff. She didn't know how he did it, because it certainly wasn't as easy for her.

She maneuvered through the twisted hallways before the finally found the bulletin board, right outside the department head's office. She reached onto her bag, grabbed a pushpin, and pinned it up on the wall, nodding in approval.

"Korra!"

_Damn it._

She spun around casually, and prayed she didn't look anything other than content. There he was, standing there, an easy smile on his face, as well as a pair of glasses she didn't remember he ever needed. "Hey, Mako."

He walked up to the board and took a look at the flyer. "You got cats?" he asked.

"Bolin and I—you remember him, right?"

He laughed. "Yeah—hard to forget that bruised face. You broke his nose real nicely," he teased.

Korra shifted her weight, pretending she wasn't flustered. "Well, we found this box of kittens abandoned at a gas station and he couldn't keep them so...I did. Just until we find homes for them."

Mako nodded, looking at the flyer once more. His fingers played with the stubs with her phone number meant to be torn before he finally broke one off. Korra looked at him expectantly. "You know someone who might want one?"

He stuffed the paper in his back pocket. "You're looking at him."

She fought a snort. "You want a cat?"

He looked down at her (_God, was he always this tall?) _and gave her a lopsided grin that was way more endearing than she would have liked. "What, you don't think I'm a cat person?"

"No, not really."

He chuckled. "Hey, come on! My new apartment gets pretty lonely—a friend might be nice."

Korra recalled Tahno's previous comment that Mako had nowhere to live. "Oh, so you found a place? That's good."

"Tahno told you huh?" he said, but he didn't look angry or upset. He just looked happy—-why was he so happy? "No, but yeah, I found a place. I've got a roommate, but he's got a weird work schedule so I don't see him much. I don't think he'd mind a cat." He looked up at the clock—it was 12:40. "Hey, want to go grab a late lunch? I'm done for the day." Her face must have been anything but accepting, and he immediately backtracked. "I mean, if you've got class or something…"

She shook her head. "No, it's fine. Class got cancelled today." She closed her book bag and slung it back over her shoulder, stuffed her hands in her pockets. Lunch couldn't hurt, right? "So!" she chirped up. "Where do you want to go?"

"You still like Mexican food? There's a new place that opened up downtown—wanna try?"

"Who stops liking Mexican food?" she laughed, and his smile grew wider at the sound. "Sounds great, let's go."

* * *

"I can't believe you stopped watching Breaking Bad."

The two were sitting in the outside portion of the restaurant—today was an unusually warm day, and Korra was keen on taking advantage of that. To her surprise, the two of them were getting along pretty well. Their previous two encounters hadn't left much room for chit-chat, and it was only know that she was seeing what months could do to change a person.

Which, apparently, included not watching good TV anymore.

Mako shrugged. "It got away from me, and I was too lazy to catch up. I'm sure it's still good. I might get around to it, who knows."

Korra shook her head, baffled. "I don't get how you just stop watching a TV show. I mean, once I'm hooked, I'm hooked."

"Basically the premise of the show," he smirked, taking a sip of his soda.

"Har dee har har."

"What, don't think I'm funny?"

"No, you're absolutely hilarious. Drop out of college. You could totally ride the comedy gig."

He leaned across the table slightly, smile alluring. "That makes one of us, I suppose."

_God damn it._

_We're totally flirting._

Luckily, the waitress came in time with their food. Mako sat up straight and began to eat, and she did this same. The conversation topics came and went, completely light and casual and quite frankly, Korra was impressed. She was sure that he'd ask about the alleyway or hound her about some other safety measure on her life—he was protective like that, always was. But he was doing a good job of not getting into real touchy subjects and Korra was beginning to wonder if he was trying to get on her good side.

"So, what do these bunches of cats look like?" he asked, careful not to talk with his mouth full.

"Wait, you're serious about the cat?" she asked.

He laughed. "Yeah! I told you, I could use a better roommate than the one I've got."

"Oh, right, well," he might have been keen not to talk with his mouth full, but she didn't care to follow suit. Who needs lady-like behavior? "Well, you can come over and look at them and take your pick—well, mostly."

He looked at her expectantly, urging an explanation. "Tahno's taken a liking to one of them—not that he'd ever admit it."

"Tahno and a sweet lovable kitten? I thought he ate the poor things for breakfast."

Korra snorted. "Yeah, me too. But who knows, maybe he's just trying to fatten it up."

Mako shook his head and looked down at his meal, trying to conceal his smile. "Dark, dark, dark…" he said as commentary of her humor—Korra beamed.

"So yeah, just come over whenever," she shrugged, taking another bite.

"Tonight?"

It was just her luck that she started choking on her food. There was no correlation to the conversation whatsoever. None. Because she invited him and said "whenever" and meant it so tonight should have been a perfectly acceptable answer.

Too bad she wasn't that rational.

Mako handed her a drink, looking concerned. "Whoa, just…take a sip champ." She nodded, and managed to drown the fajita in soda. "You okay?"

"Fine, fine," she said, hopeful to push the incident as far back in her mind as possible.

"Is tonight a bad time?"

"No, no, tonight's fine." Thinking on her toes for once, she said, "In fact, you can come right over after we're finished eating, if you want." If that didn't cover her surprise and uneasiness, nothing would.

He smiled easily at her. "Thanks, that'd be awesome."

* * *

"Tahno? Asami? I'm home!" Korra called out, as she opened the front door. Mako filed in right behind her, eyes roaming her home. Korra jogged ahead while Mako loitered in the entrance, taking off his shoes. "Hey, I—"

"No one cares," Tahno deadpanned. He and Bolin were sitting on the sofa, watching a movie. Bolin laughed and looked up at Korra. "Aw, I care Kor! What's up?"

"Brought someone who might take one of the kittens off our hands." Mako walked into the living room, his shoes and jacket discarded and gave them a lazy wave, which they didn't see on account that Fast and Furious 8435 was so thrilling and all.

"What, who—oh." Tahno looked mildly surprised. "Hey, Mako."

Bolin looked up and broke out in a large grin. "Makooooooo. Dude, what's up!" he jumped off the couch and gave him a hug. Mako went a little rigid and the unexpected contact and Korra bit her lip in amusement. "Thank again for that ride a few weeks ago. Best French fries I'd ever had."

Mako nodded, pointing to his nose. "I see your nose is all pretty much healed up."

He tapped at the small bandage that was still covering it and winced slightly. "Yeah, the bruises all cleared up, but I still got a few more weeks." he stuck his tongue out at Korra. "It'll probably be slightly crooked for life, no thanks to you!"

Korra looked a smidge guilty. "Sorry. I didn't realize you were so _delicate." _she said, trying to disguise her guilt with a joke. She knew Bolin was only teasing, but she did break his nose. But then again, he stomped on her wrist—she still wore the brace.

He waved her off, threw her a wink. "Ah, it's nothing! It adds character." He suddenly snapped his finger like he remembered something he'd forgotten. "Kittens! Right. Come this way." He started to go to the kitchen when he stopped. Mako watched, confused, as Bolin pulled Korra aside and whispered something in her ear. She nodded once, twice then three times before she went to Tahno's room. "Well," Bolin said, clapping Mako on the back, "They're in the kitchen." The two of them headed to the kitchen where Mako found three orange-red tinted kittens playing under the table. Bolin managed to wrestle the three of them away from each other. He handed one of them to Mako and held the other two before he practically ran back to the living room and plopped on the couch, leaving them to sit in his lap.

"This one is Bosco, he's pretty mellow. This one is Momo, he's a feisty little thing, this is Nyla, she's catty…pun completely intended. And—"

"This is Oogi!" Korra cooed, emerging from Tahno's bedroom with a kitten in hand. This one was the lightest of the bunch, his face all white. "Well, at first it was. The name didn't stick. Tahno's named him otherwise."

Tahno's expression had taken on murderous rage. "Korra," he said sharply.

"He likes to call this one Foo Foo Cuddlypoops!" She laughed. Just that morning, she had overhead Tahno talking babytalk to the cat, and well…she was never going to let him live it down.

By the red of Tahno's face, she had to figure he was both outraged and embarrassed. This was news to Bolin, as evidenced by his insane laughter as he rolled around on the couch—Bosco squeaked when Bolin almost sat on him.

"Korra," her name was absolute acid on his tongue. "Give me the cat."

"See!" Korra chirped, handing the cat to Tahno. "Told you he'd never admit he liked the cat."

"I hate you." he seethed, but still managing to pet the cat delicately.

"I know," she sighed dreamily. She looked around the room. "Hey, have you guys seen Asami?"

Bolin shook his head, desperately trying to stop laughing. "I think—I think she's in her room. FOO FOO CUDDLYPOOPS AHAHAH!"

The resonance of Tahno's smack to Bolin's head was most likely heard down the street.

"OW! THAT WAS UNNECESSARY."

At all the ruckus, Asami finally emerged from her room, her appearance mirroring her stress. "Okay, I've got a killer test tomorrow and I hate to be rude but what in God's name is so fucking…funny…"

The papers in her hands dropped unceremoniously to the ground.

If it were possible, Asami flushed a deep red that rivaled even Tahno's from moments before. She stood rigid, frightened, mouth agape with no words coming out. "Uh, Asami?" Korra asked. "What's the matter? Why are you…" it hit her. "Oh."

_Mako._

That's right. She was the one who ran over Mako.

Tahno reached over and grabbed the remote before turning the TV off. "This is going to be better than anything on TV." He whispered to Bolin, who snickered in agreement.

* * *

notes: Did I just write an ENTIRE chapter based on cats?

Yes. Yes I did.

Only me, folks. Only me. It just got away from me, sorry. BUT I base all these stories loosely on things that really happened. I really did find a box of kittens at a gas station. Me and my friends have hoarded all kinds of animals in dorm rooms before. So yeah. It's ~realistic~ or whatever. Anyway. Hope you enjoyed it. If not, no worries, the next one will be out before you know it!

Thanks guys! I looooove you. Especially you, Liv.


	5. Chapter 5

car·pe di·em: _noun: _to seize the fucking day

.

"Shit."

In Asami's opinion, this wasn't her fault. Korra was the one who brought her stupid ex-boyfriend into the house without _telling_ her that it was her stupid ex-boyfriend because all Asami saw was the kid who she accidentally ran over with her car coming back to murder her. Not going to press charges, he said? Of course not, because the tall lanky asshole with the weird eyebrows was planning to come and kill her all along. He was probably in a gang. The Mafia. The Mafia Gang.

She thought she was going to die.

So, yeah, her shouting and begging for mercy was completely justified. Completely.

The police begged to differ.

The officer was staring at her like she would rather be anywhere but here. She was all sharp lines; sharp jaw, knobby elbows and shoulders, two long crooked scars down her left cheek. The woman, probably in her fifties, had these really pretty green eyes, about the same shade as her own, and Asami knew just the right shade of eye shadow to make her look 10 years younger but she couldn't tell the officer on account that she was _absolutely terrifying._

"Got a call from the neighbors about a domestic violence case," the officer said, whose nametag read "Beifong". Which happened to be—

"Mom!"

Oh boy.

Aged eyes slid over to Bolin, still on the couch. His mother's posture deflated significantly at the realization and she let out a tired sigh. "Well, if it isn't my own brat. Care to explain what happened?"

Swallowing her fear, Asami spoke up before Bolin had a chance. "It's all just a big misunderstanding. Officer. Miss, uh, ma'am…..sir."

God dammit.

A skeptical look crawled on Beifong's face as she reached into her pocket for a piece of paper. "The neighbors claimed," she read aloud, the bored expression slowly coming back, "that a young woman shouted 'please don't kill me' for nearly 15 minutes straight."

Right.

"Uhhhh," Asami stuttered, looking for an explanation because there had to be some good reason for shouting empty murder threats. "We…were playing Mario Kart?"

The officer looked un-amused. Bolin, however, thought it was funny, and laughed. "Mom, blue shells are serious business—virtual cap in your ass, those things," and his mother rolled her eyes in response before she began walking around the room, inspecting. Nothing was broken or torn. No furniture upturned or blood splattered on the walls. She got up close and personal with Asami looking her over. "You're not hurt, that I can see." She looked behind her shoulder at the rest of the group as well, eyes lingering over Mako a little longer than she planned. "They seem fine too…" she mumbled. "But I need an official report. Video games ain't gonna cut it. I'd like the truth."

This was really, really, embarrassing, Asami figured. Probably the most embarrassing thing she'd ever had to do. Besides running over a kid. And running away from home. And moving in with complete strangers.

Oh God, when did she become such a mess?

"Well you see, I thought he was going to kill me," she admitted, pointing a finger at Mako, who was inexplicably very red and withdrawn at the moment. "You see, we were in a minor car accident the other day, and he promised he wouldn't press charges and I thought he had come back to axe me instead. You know, his plan all along or something." She spilled out the whole thing, eyes shut tight, teeth nearly clenched. "I overreacted, I know, I'm sorry, but I promise there was no intent on killing or anything." She noticed the cat in his hands. "He's all soft and nice, like the cat. Which he's here for. Soft kitty friend."

Lin looked back at Mako once more eyes scrutinizing. "Hmm."

Tahno, seizing an opportunity at torment said, "I don't know, the whole thing was pretty—"

"Tahno," Korra seethed, cutting him off before he could continue. "Finish that sentence and I'll—"

"Careful what threats you make in front of an officer, young lady," the woman panned, but it didn't sound very serious.

Bolin hopped off the couch and bounded up to his mother, slinging an arm over her shoulder. "Ma, Ma, I promise, nothing's happened. It really is a big misunderstanding—Asami just got scared and couldn't keep her mouth shut."

No arguments from her were spoken.

Officer Beifong sighed. "I believe you." she made vague gestures around the room. "Looks fine to me. And none of you are pressing charges?"

All four chorused a quick, "No!"

"Then my work's done." She said, heading for the door. "Just be sure to shut your damn mouths will you? Keep the noise down. I'm giving all of you a warning," she stabbed an accusing finger to Bolin. "And next time, stop it before I have to show up. You know better."

He saluted her. "Sure thing!"

For the third time though, the officer found herself staring at Mako on her way out. "Are you….are you the one who…?" But something in Mako's eyes, a cocktail of all sorts of emotions, made her stop and reconsider. "Nah, forget it. Goodnight."

Not much happened after that. Tahno claimed he needed a drink and then had, like, four, Korra helped Mako pick out his new kitten, and Bolin invited Asami to play Mario Kart and then proceed to say, "please don't kill me!" every time she launched a damn weapon just to mock her. But even then, she still noticed that Mako was uncomfortable, all the way until he walked out the door.

She went as far as to ask Korra what was up with him and the officer (Bolin's mom, like, what?), but Korra didn't answer, just made some remark that was probably way more snarky than she had intended. But whatever; If it was important, Asami would figure it out eventually.

"Ah, a blue shell, please don't kill me! Hahahaha." Bolin chanted for the 50thtime.

"You _suck_."

.

.

"I don't want to go shopping."

Asami finished with the last curl in her hair as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She puckered her lips a few times and decided that yes, her lips could use another lipstick application. "Don't care. We're going."

Korra was currently sitting on the edge of the counter, feet resting on the closed toilet seat. She'd already gone through all of Asami's make-up and _they make neon green eye shadow_? And moreover, why did she even fucking _have it_? "But why?" she whined.

"Be_cause _we're going to the Flying Boars concert this weekend and you have absolutely nothing to wear."

Well, Korra thought that was just a smidge rude. "I have tons of clothes!" she protested.

"Yeah, like t-shirts and jeans."

"It's a concert, not the Queen's ball."

Korra was beyond frustrated, and Asami could tell—all the more reason to smile. "Relax!" she laughed. "Shopping is fun! We'll pick you out something cute, the whole shebang—dress, jewelry, shoes—it'll be a blast."

"No it won't."

"Obviously, you've never been shopping with me." Asami waved her off. "Stop being such a Debbie-downer."

"Well," Korra huffed, "I don't see what was wrong with borrowing something of yours."

That was true. Asami had tons of clothes, half of which she didn't even wear anymore. But dammit, she wanted to go _shopping _and she hated going alone and besides it was her duty as Korra's new friend to make sure she had a pair of heels or a little black dress or like, _a necklace. _"You can borrow anything of mine, anytime. But this is something that'll be yours! Fit perfectly for you."

Finally, Korra seemed to crack. "You really want to go shopping, don't you?"

"Sweetie, my credit card is crying from negligence. I have to do something." She begged, finishing with her make-up. Korra looked at the clock on her phone and noticed it had only taken Asami 15 minutes to do all her make-up and hair. Impressive.

"_Fine," _ Korra bit out as she hopped off the counter. "Just don't tell the boys we're going. Especially Tahno. If he hears we're going shopping—"

At that moment, all of Korra's hopes and dreams came crashing down as Tahno popped his stupid head into the doorway and said, "Did someone say shopping?"

Fuck.

After many protests from Korra (none of which were heard), the three of them piled into Tahno's car and drove to the mall. Korra counted her lucky stars that Bolin wasn't around, otherwise she was sure she'd end up digging herself into a hole six feet underground from the sheer annoyance of it all. They eventually made it to a store that had a name Korra couldn't care less about and in what felt like seconds she was already shoved into a dressing room with half a dozen outfits ready to try on and model.

Korra really, really hated shopping.

From outside the dressing room, Asami and Tahno waited. They could hear her mumbled complaints about stupid zippers and stupid ribbons and _why the fuck is it so short in the front and not the back where's the rest of it. _"You're not going to get her to buy any of those dresses, you know," Tahno said, already wandering over to another rack of clothes that had tops and pants.

Asami didn't care what he had to say. "Trust me, she'll pick it if _I_ pick it."

He froze. "What you just said, that was a challenge."

"Oh, absolutely."

After that, the pair of them had successfully turned the department store into a full out war-zone. It became clear what Asami and Tahno's goals were, and they were so into it, flying through racks and stacks of clothes, that other customers and stopped to watch and take their bets on who would pick what for the mysterious girl in the dressing room.

Korra could have died.

Twenty minutes in, and Korra was on some purple halter dress that she…couldn't put on. It had like, 87 straps and it bunched weird but, apparently, it was supposed to. Pfft, fashion. "Guys," she whined and no, she didn't sound like a five year old, "I cannot get in this dress—I'm being honest, I can't figure it out."

That particular dress was one of Tahno's picks. So, she was most certainly putting on that dress. "Yes you can. Try harder."

"You don't have to put it on if you don't want to!" Asami sung, and Tahno elbowed her in the ribs. "Try the emerald green one, it's way better anyway—OW! Tahno, that's my foot!"

"Whoops, clumsy me."

Backing down from a challenge wasn't really Korra's style so she took another look at the dress. She tried twisting it, turning it inside out, stepping into it, pulling it on over her head but she could _not _figure this out. "No, Tahno, I'm sorry, but I really can't get in this dress. I'm just going to try the green one—TAHNO!"

Without a words notice, Tahno had proceeded to crawl underneath the little space where the dressing room door didn't go to floor all the way (it should. For reasons like this, she thought) With a girlish flip of his hair as he stood up, he grabbed the dress from Korra and started to fix it. What had she done to get it all tangled like this?

Meanwhile, Korra was pretty mortified.

"Tahno, get _out _of the dressing room!" she hissed quietly, trying not to yell because if a store attendant found them like this, it would have been mortifying.

He rolled his eyes. "Stop looking so scandalized, It's not like I'm gonna jump your bones." he said, bunching the dress out and finding the zipper—she'd jammed it in the fabric. With a few quick tugs he managed to get it out. "You act like I've never seen you naked before."

From outside the dressing room, the two heard Asami stifle a laugh and say, "Goodness, what kind of stuff did you two do before I moved in?"

She shoved him and he fell back into the mirror. "Doesn't matter, you shouldn't be in here, asshole!" She felt his fingers dance around her back until he grabbed one of her bra straps and pulled it, letting it slap back into her shoulder. Ow. "Take it off—you don't need it in this dress, it's got cups built in."

"…Really? My boobs are really…well, big."

"I know. Off."

She slapped his hand away. "Ugh, I hate you."

"Just shut up! I've got a bet to win. I'm getting you in this dress if it kills me."

Again, Asami commented, "Tahno getting a girl _into_ a dress, that's a new one."

He frowned, Korra grinned. "I'm so glad we added her to the group."

"Whatever," he mumbled and proceeded to help Korra step into the dress, put her head through the hole, twist it around, zip it up and tie the ribbon in the back. All while trying to wiggle out of her bra without flashing Tahno. (Surprisingly, successful.)

Tahno let out a low whistle, _"Damn."_

Korra was too nervous to look in the mirror Tahno was currently standing in front of it. "Does it look stupid? I bet it looks stupid. God, of course you would pick such a fucking piece of—"

"I _win!" _ Tahno chanted, and shoved Korra out the dressing room without another thought—damn her insecurities because she had no reason to feel insecure and as soon as Asami saw here in this, she would never dare challenge him again.

"No," Asami protested, "You do not win until she tries on that…._" _all other words died in her mouth. She stared at Korra for all of five seconds before copying Tahno's previous low whistle. "Holy s_hit."_

That was not very reassuring to Korra. She tugged at the dress—there were these fashionable slits and openings in the abdomen and back, and they probably laid funny on her which meant she probably looked like an idiot which_definitely _meant Tahno was a jackass and she was going to totally _kill him._"What?" Korra bounced up and down, looking at her chest. "I need a bra, don't I? Asami? What is it?"

"Tahno wins." Asami sighed, much to her chagrin. "But I get to pick the shoes!"

.

.

"I can't do this anymore. I _can't."_

Korra and Bolin were stretched out in a quiet corner of the student union building (a miracle to find). The other day had been filled with torturous shopping trips, topped off with guilt when Asami offered to pay for everything (Korra now owned a pair of shoes over 100 dollars and that was fucking ridiculous). Bolin had been gone for most of the week, helping Toph set up things for her concert, but now the two of them were taking a well-needed study break. Bolin had this atrocious essay due in a week or so, and Korra had this Chinese oral exam coming up.

It was not going well.

Bolin peeked over her textbook and frowned. Chinese looked like hieroglyphics to him. "I don't blame you."

Korra pouted. "There's no way I'm going to be able to do this. This class is kicking my _butt."_

He was tempted to tease her about being an overachiever, that this was all her fault, but he figured it'd only end with him in a headlock or some other trip to the hospital. "Well," he drawled, searching for a solution, "Do you know anybody that could help you? Uh, a TA? Student tutors? A classmate or something?"

"…asdfgjkl;"

….What. "Try words, Kor."

She squirmed, looking incredibly adorable and uncomfortable all at the same time. "Um, well. I. Uh."

"Spit it out."

"…I'm pretty sure Mako knows Chinese."

Bolin figured he should have expected that answer, but here he was, surprised. "You're_ pretty_ sure?" he elaborated because in the end, teasing her always won. It was just too much fun.

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, I'm _completely _ sure. He grew up in China."

Reaching into Korra's bag, he fished for her phone (he tried not to think about the fact that his fingers may have just brushed against a tampon). She was still oldschool with her flip phone, and he searched through her contacts and frowned. "His number isn't in here," he told her.

Korra snatched the phone away. "That's because I don't have his number, dummy."

Bolin didn't buy it. "He doesn't have _your_ number?" he sung, voice pitched and oh my, Korra _blushed. _"Aha, knew it! Let's see…" he snatched the phone back from her unsuspecting hands and started going through her recent calls to see the last few people who called her. The fourth one down, after him, her dad, and Katara, he saw a number with no contact name. That had to be him.

"Bingo!"

Korra realized too late. "Bo!" she reached over and tried to grab it again, but Bolin turned his back and easily deflected. She was strong though, and persistent, so he was thankful that Mako picked up the phone after two rings.

_"Hello?"_

He suppressed a grunt when Korra's elbow had found its way to his ribs. "Hi, I'm calling on behalf of Korra. She's been meaning to call back that Chinese tutor. This is the correct number, if I'm not mistaken."

"_Oh, no. You've got the wrong number. This is her friend, Mako."_

_Her friend, huh?_ Bolin feigned surprise (horribly, in Korra's opinion) "Mako? Oh hey! It's Bolin."

_"Right, right! Nice to hear from you, dude. Wait, did you say Korra needs a Chinese tutor?"_

Check and mate. Bolin laughed a little when Korra started practically crawling up him trying to get the phone he'd might as well have glued to his ear. "Yeah, she does. Why, you know a good one?"

_"Oh, uh, I know Chinese. I'll be more than happy to help her. That way she doesn't have to pay someone else to do it."_

Another over exaggerated gasp from Bolin. "You know Chinese? No way! How'd you learn it?"

_"I grew up in China. Hm. I wonder why Korra didn't think to ask me sooner, if she's been having trouble. She should have remembered…"_

Korra, hearing everything over the phone, frowned. He guessed she thought Mako sounded a little hurt too. "Well, sometimes stress causes us to forget the important things. Believe me, I never remember a damn thing. And I'm never actually stressed."

_"I don't blame her. Well, anyway, I'd be more than happy to tutor her. Tell her for me, would you? But, uh, Bolin? "_

"Yeah, bro?

_"…Why are you calling from Korra's phone?"_

"Because he's a _jerk!" _ Korra shouted, successfully nabbing the phone back. She hastily pressed it to her hear and realized that yes, she had the phone which meant, yes, she had to talk to him. "Sorry, he was just trying to help me. Apparently, I'm stubborn."

_"Korra," _ she did _not _like the way he said her name, all warm like honey. Or at least, she wished she did. "_You're the most stubborn person alive."_

"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled.

_"So, would you like me to tutor you? I'm pretty good at Chinese—I guess you forgot."_

"Oh, no, I didn't forget," she said quickly, and glared at Bolin when he snickered. "I just thought you'd be kind of busy, you know?"

_"I'm never too busy for you."_

"Aww!" Bolin squeaked quietly, his head pressed against hers, listening in to their conversation. But Korra could admit her cheeks were flaming because dammit, that was a really cute thing to say.

"Thank, Mako. I really appreciate it."

_"Tomorrow over lunch sound good?"_

She felt herself smile. "Sounds perfect."

_"Alright, see you tomorrow. Lo—later, Korra."_

Oh no, did he just almost…? "Bye!" She slammed her flip phone shut to meet the eyes of a very smug Bolin.

"Am I great or what?" he bragged. "Now, what will it take for you to ask him to the concert Saturday…"

She shoved him into the wall, her blush from the whole phone conversation still apparent.

.

.

notes: whoo! next chapter out! this one took me a little longer guys, sorry for the wait. I've done away with line breaks, because FF Net keeps deleting them I don't know why-I hope no one's getting lost because the jumps are significant in subject and time. Oh well. I am playing around a lot with ages and all sorts of stuff by introducing atl:a characters as well, so just in case anyone's confused, Toph and Bolin are siblings, Lin is their mother (how topsy turvy, I know), Katara is Korra's older cousin, and Sokka works at the bar with Korra and Tahno. No Aang...yet :) Okay, I think that's it. Any questions or concerns, feel free to address them and I'll be happy to answer you (you HAVE to remember to log in, otherwise, I can't answer your review!) And any comments are always appreciated. Thanks!


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